Mul-Yam's Seafoodpedia wins the 'Oscar' of the book world at Gourmand World Cookbook Awards; Israeli-Arab duo take top honors for Mediterranean Cuisine.

Israeli chefs took top awards at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards at the Louvre in Paris. The international committee chose Seafoodpedia — a design cookbook edited by Shalom Maharovsky, owner and founder of Mul-Yam (Across the Sea) restaurant in the Tel Aviv Port – as the Best in the World in the fish and seafood category.

The annual Gourmand awards are considered the ‘Oscars of art cookbooks.’ Israel’s entry in the seafood category triumphed over cookbooks from fish powerhouses China, the Netherlands, Portugal and the Dominican Republic.

Mul-Yam's 'Seafoodpedia'

“This is the first time that an Israeli book wins first place in the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world,” said Dan Alexander, who designed the book. “The competition organizers said that ‘Seafoodpedia is intriguing, and positions Israel in the center of the culinary global map. The culinary guide of Mul Yam, published by À Point Books, is a must for anyone who defines himself as a culinary connoisseur.’ They also added that ‘Mul Yam’s Seafoodpedia proves to us that there is still much to learn from Israel about seafood and fish.'”

Kudos to the Israeli kitchen didn’t end there.

Israeli-Arab team of chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi took top honors for Mediterranean Cuisine. Gourmand awarded them Best in the World for their book, Jerusalem, A Cookbook, which was published in England.

And, according to international media, the Israeli app Look&Cook was popular table talk — with the gastronomic community waiting (impatiently) for an English version to be released.

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Viva Sarah Press reports on the creativity, innovation and ingenuity taking place in Israel. Her work has been published by international media outlets including Israel Television, CNN, Reuters, Time Out and The Jerusalem Post.